"Today in Natanz there are around 7,000 centrifuges installed," Aghazadeh told a gathering in the central province of Isfahan as Iran marked its national nuclear day.

He also said Iran had reached a "new phase (generation) of acquiring the technolgy of uranium enrichment."

In its February 19 report, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency said 3,964 centrifuges were actively enriching uranium in Natanz.

It said another 1,476 were undergoing vacuum or dry run tests without nuclear material, and an additional 125 centrifuges had been installed but remained stationary.

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